So Wendi and I settled once again into the computer room for a nice, relaxing evening spent online. I fired up a web browser and AIM, she launched her present gaming addiction, The Sims Online. This is pretty typical, really, which tells you a lot about what kind of rock-and-roll lifestyle we lead at the Kerezman abode.

Wendi’s been playing “TSO” for many months. She’s quite devoted to it, having taken last year’s beta-testing duties to heart and possessing a sincere interest in the success of the game, as well as those aspects that detract from its success. In order to keep her property among the higher-rated places in her chosen “city,” she plays often.

Tonight she was in her property, welcoming newbies and building skills. At one point she took a bit of a break to trim Alex’s hair. Her Sim character was set a skill-building task, which is usually good for a few minutes if you need to step away from the computer. I, of course, don’t often pay much attention to the game, having burned out on the concept of The Sims quite some time ago during a week’s experience with the original game.

So you can imagine my surprise when I glance over and see this:

“Uh, honey?”

“Yes?”

“Uh, what exactly is your character doing?”

“Building a skill, why?”

“Uh, she just grabbed the top of the cage, pulled herself up, and started making humping motions. Is that normal?”

“Yep.”

“Oooookay…”

I swear to you that I am not making this up. I suspect that if more lonely geeks knew that there were interactive cage-dancing avatars running amok in this game, they’d be signing over their paychecks to EA Games in droves.

Let’s just say that this is a side of Wendi’s personality I never expected to see, and leave it at that.